This is a sunset from Flat Rock on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The trail head is located on the parkway, just south of Linville, North Carolina. A brief hike to this view (probably not even a mile) was rewarded with amazing views to the west.
If you look closely at nearly the center of the photo, there is an opening in the trees. That’s the Blue Ridge Parkway and the entrance to the parking area for the hike up to Humpback Rock. It’s quite a hike, 2 miles uphill the entire way. But they view at the top is worth every step. Both sunset and sunrise can be seen from the rocks.
My wife and I recently hiked to Machine Falls. It’s a beautiful hike and the falls are truly amazing. The photos don’t really do the size and scope of this waterfall justice. But, I did what I can 🙂 Hope you enjoy…
Found this guy along the trail 🙂
A month ago, my brother and I planned a hiking trip on the Appalachian Trail. It’s been so long since I did any overnight hiking, I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into!
I really wanted to do a section near Roan Mountain. I used to live in Johnson City and have been up to Roan Mountain many times, but never on the AT up there. After some internet research, we settled on starting at Carvers Gap. [mappress mapid=”2″]
Carvers Gap is right on the Tennessee/North Carolina state line.
On the way up, I stopped for a few photos
As I was heading up the mountain to meet my brother, it began hailing! When I got to Carvers Gap, it was raining off and on and it was very windy. We tried to wait a little to see if the weather would pass, but finally decided to just head on. It was already late in the day and we wanted to get to Roan High Knob shelter before it got too dark. Roan High Knob is about 1.5 miles from Carvers Gap, but the climb was pretty steep.
We hiked through the rain and made it to the shelter to find that people were already set up in it. So we pitched the tent in the rain/mist.
Some other photos of Roan High Knob:
This one is probably my favorite photo from the entire trip…
The next morning, we packed up the wet tent and headed back down the mountain. The target destination for the day was the Overmountain Shelter, about 5-6 miles. It’s an old red barn that’s used as a shelter on the Appalachian Trail. The views from there are supposed to be great!
That morning, it was still wet and misty. Here are some shots from the first mile or so that morning:
Once we made it back to Carver’s Gap, we continued to the balds. It was very windy and low laying clouds were moving so fast!
Because of how windy and wet it was, I was reluctant to get the camera out much.
We hiked on. A little after lunch, we made it to Overmountain Shelter (after a short detour on a wrong path 🙂
Before even leaving home for the trip, I had a shot in mind that I wanted to attempt. I wanted to photograph this barn at night with some very long exposures so to get the star trails streaking off to the left. Once we got there, I started getting my camera gear out and I realized that I had lost my remote trigger. In order to long exposures, I had to have that trigger 🙁
So, instead, I got a shot of the view
There were already several people at the shelter so we decided to head back to a campsite that we passed a couple miles ago on the trail. Most of the day was downhill, so we knew we had hard uphill day waiting for us so we wanted to get some of it out of the way.
We made it to the campsite and finally got a fire going!
It took us so long to get this fire going. The ground and wood was still pretty wet and the wind was constantly blowing pretty hard. But we got it going so we got to eat a hot dinner.
Without my remote trigger, I couldn’t take any star trail photos. I have, however, seen a technique used to photograph the stars with only a 30 second or less exposure using a very high ISO. So I decided to try it:
I noticed the nearly full moon rising between the trees:
The weather had improved greatly the next day. It was a hard hike as it was nearly all uphill. But once we made it back to the balds, it was amazing:
To the left is North Carolina, to the right is Tennessee. Straight ahead is Jane Bald and Round Bald. The ridge in the background that still has some green on it is Roan High Knob, where we camped the first night.
And finally, here is the Appalachian Trail heading toward Jane Bald
What a fun trip! I’m definitely planning on doing it again sometime soon!
Thanks for looking!
Time for some more photos from my recent trip to Western North Carolina and East Tennessee. All of these shots were taken at Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. Grandfather Mountain is home to the “Mile High Swinging Bridge”. It was cloudy and hazy the day we visited but it still offered some amazing views. Enjoy:
(my younger brother enjoying the view)
Thanks for looking!
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Well, here we are. The final installment of this 52 week project. I’m going for a little bit of symbolism in the lead shot as I’m watching the sun set on this project. I also started the project with a sunrise, so I wanted to end with a sunset.
Radnor Lake is actually a pretty tough place to catch a sunset. There really are no good angles. I had three chances to get a shot of one this week, starting on Monday which was a complete rain out. My second chance came on Tuesday, so I parked at the east parking lot ad tried to capture it from Otter Creek Road:
This sunset was really amazing. And while I liked how this shot turns out, it doesn’t show most of the color that was there. The sun is actually setting off camera left, behind the hills. What you see at the end of the lake is actually the edge of it.
So my next opportunity came Thursday evening. I decided this time to shoot from the trail that directly faces the sunset. I wasn’t sure how I was going to compose it with all the trees, path, fence, etc. I decided to use the fence in the composition and to put myself in the photo. The result is the lead shot.
A couple others from the final week:
And that’s it for the week and the year! Thanks to everyone who viewed, commented, liked, or supported this effort. It’s been a lot of fun and I feel like I’ve come a long way as a photographer. Have a look at the first few weeks and see if you think I’ve improved. Constantly shooting will help you do that.
If you are a photographer and are thinking about a year long project, weather a 52 or a 365, I highly recommend it. Don’t make too many rules though! It has to be fun for you, it has to be something you want to do. I had to get up at 4:45 in the morning each time I wanted to get to the lake for a sunrise or for early morning shooting. Because of my wife’s work schedule and my son’s school schedule I was able to do this only about once a week, but I actually looked forward to that day. I never once viewed this project as a chore, or wished I hadn’t committed myself by starting this blog or posting on flickr.
Don’t think for a minute that now that this is over I’ll stop going to the lake! Radnor Lake is an amazing place (really early in the morning when there aren’t too many people there 🙂 ) Abundant wildlife and beautiful views. There is ALWAYS something to shoot at Radnor. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend you check it out.
I have some other ideas in the works for other projects, Subscribe to this blog you will receive an email every time I post something new! Or, become a fan on Facebook.
All of the “This Week at the Lake” photos are available for purchase as fine art prints and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Friends of Radnor Lake! Send me an email for more info (m_macgregor@comcast.net)
Thanks!
Last Saturday I got my 6 year old son up extra early for a hike around Radnor Lake. We got there just in time for a great sunrise. I let him use my Rebel XSi (now that I’m on the 7D) and he loved it! He loved walking around with the camera strapped around his neck. I think he took more photos that I did! We saw everything I told him we might see: Barred Owl, Deer, Turkey, Ducks, Geese, Birds, Squirrel, and Chipmunks. Fun morning, something we’ll definitely do again soon…
Here he is shooting some deer:
I’ll have to post some of his photos here sometime
Here is another shot of the sunrise:
And the light on the lake:
This shot looks like something from November. The morning light coming from around the bend was great!
Here are a couple large Bucks we saw:
Here is another Buck taken another morning:
And some more Owl photos from the week:
And that’s it for the week! Next week is the finale! The weather forcast looks good, so let’s hope for something great!!
Thanks for looking!
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All of the “This Week at the Lake” photos are available for purchase as fine art prints and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Friends of Radnor Lake! Send me an email for more info (m_macgregor@comcast.net)
One more week at Radnor Lake down, winter is tough! I don’t mind going in the cold, it’s just that there is not much to look at! Even the lakescapes seem to be missing so much color:
Also, your probably tired of that view! I’ve taken lot’s of morning shots from this overlook. It’s getting harder and harder to get something different. You pretty much have to hope for something to happen – like the turkey in the lead shot. This is the third time I’ve led with a turkey, but all of those are very different. The road he is on is Otter Creek Road, it’s closed to vehicle traffic.
Here’s a couple more that I feel like I’ve done before:
I’ve shot this (and processed similarly) in the summer time, but it feels very different in winter.
Here’s one I’ve done a couple times but couldn’t remember one in black and white, I think they look awesome!
Here is one I’ve shot many times so far this winter but have never posted because I never really liked how they turn out. Finally I cropped it and it is much more like I envisioned!
And that’s it for the week!
Thanks for looking!
Check out all the previous weeks by Clicking HERE
Don’t miss a week! Subscribe to this blog and you will receive an email every time I post something new!
Malcolm MacGregor Photography is on Facebook, check it out and become a fan!
All of the “This Week at the Lake” photos are available for purchase as fine art prints and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Friends of Radnor Lake! Send me an email for more info (m_macgregor@comcast.net)
Not much to write about this week – I visited Radnor Lake on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I was very excited to spot this huge buck on Thursday at about mid-day. Here is another of the same buck crossing the hiking trail:
There’s another to check off the wish list! Now if only I could see a bald eagle I’d be just about done with that list!
Wednesday was an early morning trip:
Other miscellaneous shots from the week:
And that’s it for the week!
Thanks for looking!
Check out all the previous weeks by Clicking HERE
Don’t miss a week! Subscribe to this blog and you will receive an email every time I post something new!
Malcolm MacGregor Photography is now on Facebook, check it out and become a fan!
All of the “This Week at the Lake” photos are available for purchase as fine art prints and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Friends of Radnor Lake! Send me an email for more info (m_macgregor@comcast.net)
I’m getting closer!
For the last couple of weeks, nearly every time I visit around lunch, I’ve seen a hawk flying around. I haven’t been able to catch him in a tree or on the ground yet, but I finally caught him flying close enough to the ground to get a decent shot of him! This is only at 200mm and only cropped a little.
Of course, I had to play around with the photo some, here is a more dramatic lens flare version:
On Thursday, I posted on my Facebook Page about some tones I was working on. Here are a couple shots using very similar tones and processing:
Signs of Fall at the lake!
And Finally, the “mandatory” weekly deer photos:
I got these three shots up on the Ganier Ridge Trail, this week was my first time heading off on that trail…
And that’s it for the week!
Thanks for looking!
Check out all the previous weeks by Clicking HERE
Don’t miss a week! Subscribe to this blog and you will receive an email every time I post something new!
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Southern Appalachian Spruce Fir – Roan Highlands, Tennessee/North CarolinaJune 13, 2017 - 8:27 pm
Blue Ridge Parkway Mile Post 19 – 20 Minute CliffJune 3, 2017 - 9:32 am
General Jackson – Charlottesville, VirginiaMay 30, 2017 - 8:40 pm
Frisco Pier – Cape Hatteras, North CarolinaMay 30, 2017 - 8:35 pm
Bodie Island Lighthouse and Milky Way – Nags Head, North CarolinaMay 30, 2017 - 8:30 pm